Not everyone wants to serve on a jury.

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OH CRAP, I love it, least he's honest.

It got him excused it sounds like. Wimps.

Thinkin I'll go count...........................................

Except my dog's female.

My Daddy told me, "Son, if you ever do anything that gets you put on trial, throw yourself on the mercy of the judge. Otherwise you will be putting your fate in the hands of 12 people who were too stupid to get out of jury duty".

I did serve on a Jury once. The boy on trial had shot and killed a drunk who was coming onto his property and threatening him. I'm not bragging but I believe that because I was on that jury, and foreman (not that that means anything) that the defendant was not convicted of murder. If I had tried harder to get off perhaps a kid who was defending his home and family would be in prison today.

There was another time that I told them that I could not be impartial as a juror. The case was where a guy had gotten drunk and had beat a woman and some other men with a pipe. They asked an honest question "could I be impartial?" (he was using the 'poor me, I was drunk' excuse) I gave them an honest answer, "Hell NO!" I was dismissed.

Jury duty is a pain, no doubt, but a necessary pain if we are going to preserve our freedoms. If the only people left to decide the fate of persons accused of crimes are truly those too stupid to get out of jury duty then Obama is going to smile at that one.

Alan

sounds about like my dad's attitude when he filled out the survey....never been called for jury duty and chances are aslong as i work for the paper its unlikely i will.....they sure as hell wont put me on the a district case cause i prolly know as much as either lawyer and i see most the paper work for the federal stuff out of Great Falls aswell.....every time someone who works here gets called, they drive the couple hundred miles to Great Falls, the lawyers find out yah work for the newspaper and they excuse you.....

A friend of mine likes to say that we have as much access to the justice system as we do to an Olympic Four Seasons Hotel.

The current jury system is a joke and this guy in Montana gets it. I would like to see them pay something like $50 an hour portal to portal, and see how that works for them.

jim

Well, if I ever had to rely on a jury I'd rather it was a group of people like on this site, than a bunch of people who had nothing better to do.

It's brutal for the self-employed, I can tell you that.

If I had a job that paid me my salary while doing jury duty, it might actually be kind of a nice break from the grind.

But, I don't, and the last time I was called in it cost me some real money, at a time I really needed the money.

I just wear my old shooting vest,.....covered with alla' the Right wing "Extremist" Organization's patches.

Never get picked.

That T-Shirt that you sent a pic of, Les,....that'd be a nice compliment to my vest,....No?

GTC

Downright skippy it would.

Absolutely so.

The wife and I have probably come close to setting a record for the number of times we've served Jury Duty. There was always a reason to beg off but none ever convinced the presiding judge or Clerk of Court, so we just served.

These days it's a real inconvenience and sometimes, even a dangerous situation. We live about 40 miles from the courthouse and when the roads are covered with ice, neither one of us feels confident about making that drive.

Other than that, we feel it is a our duty and for the most part, we find the experience to be enlightening and worthwhile.

Everyone should have the experience of sitting on a jury with a number of their "peers". Some pretty astonishing things happen in a jury room and the opinions and beliefs are often very strong and diverse.

JMHO, YMMV

Profession? Engineer
Education? Post Graduate
Background? Military, Conservative, Midwesterner
Pro Death Penalty? Yep.

Somehow they never select me...

Was asked once. Considering the duty was in Michigan and I was living in Texas and active duty - didn't have to go.

If asked I would be real honest about my answers - guessing my full honesty and answering questions the way I know how - I wouldn't ever be picked.

Served in the jury pool only once. Got tossed out of most trials for being an excop. Yeah,they asked that question. Only served on one and sent the b!tch to prison. Loved it!

If I get called again I'll show up with bells on.

O

I've had it several times and it could be boring as crap. I live in a small area and a lot of people know each other. The last time I was called I knew both the lawyers, and was asked the standard questions if this would influence me. I said no. Finally the plaintiffs came in and I went to school with one of them. He said "Hello Marc", I replied "Hello Henry" and judge said you may step down!

Every time I got called for jury duty, I just did what someone told me a few years ago. " Be yourself, answer the questions as you would, not as you think they want to hear...it'll get you thrown out so fast..."
Sure enough, it works every time. Last time the question was any ties to LE? Yep I says, I train K9. " Could you be impartial?" Nope, I have a DISTINCT Law Enforcement Bias..." didn't let the door hit me in the azz on the way out...
Ingwe

My better looking half got a jury duty request packet once. One of the questions was about race. At the bottom of the multiple choices was the box marked "other". She wrote in "human, and that you even ask suggests you're a racist."

Never heard from them again.

Of course, compulsory jury duty involves every bit as much involuntary servitude as subpoenas and conscription.

I don't buy the "But you might be sending an innocent man to prison if you don't serve!" argument. If a thug says to you, "Do X or I'll beat your wife," and you don't do X, and he beats your wife, are you responsible for your wife's beating? Of course not: the thug is. Same-same if the thug is the State, X is jury service, and the beating is imprisonment of an innocent man.

I've been on several juries. Loved 'em all.

During voir dire for one trial, we were asked whether any of us � or any member of our families � had been victim of a crime. I raised my hand. When he got around to me, the judge asked me what crime.

"Somebody stole my camera and some other stuff last year."

"Would that experience affect your ability to hear this case fairly and honestly?"

"Not unless the evidence shows that this defendant stole my camera."

I wasn't trying to be funny, only to define the limit of my objectivity, but everybody in the court room cracked-up � including the judge, the defendant, and the defense attorney.

I was picked to hear the case. Neither attorney objected.
_________________________________________________________

I also got picked for another jury after the judge asked us whether any of us did not drink alcohol. He then asked us why.

"Because," I said, "I've never cared for the taste or the cost."

When the laughter faded into chuckles, the judge said with a grin that those were the two best reasons that he'd ever heard.

I've been on 2 juries (organized crime) and enjoyed the experiece. But I've always thought that you might avoid jury duty if in your application to be excused, you would state that you believe that only guilty people are indicted and therefore that's how you will vote.

Then include a sworn statement saying that you vote "guilty" and ask that this statement be your official vote so that you do not have appear and listen to the lying SOB.

I got called for jury duty two years ago. One jury got filled before they got to me. The next had me for questioning for selection. I was the first the prosecutor's lawyer asked to dismiss. They asked if anyone had a feeling one way or the other about the justice system and the right of one person to sue another for millions of dollars. I told them I didn't believe in suing if your injury resulted from you doing something stupid. I fell on the ice that Winter and cracked my spine in the Dicks parking lot. I had a thousand dollar copay at the hospital. I had lawyers calling my house wanting to sue Dicks and get me some money. I told the lawyer it was my own fault. It's snowy outside and I had every reason to believe it was slippery but I decided to go shopping that day anyway. I stepped out of my truck, slipped, and hit hard, but I refused to point the finger at anyone. They didn't like that.

I"ve been a few times, but never selected, both times the defendant didn't show up.

I have been on grand jury once now and will again, of that I"m sure. It was interesting and doing my duty.

As to judge or jury, I"d never let a single being choose my fate. The larger numbers on a jury give you a better chance and generally folks are whimps anyway and don't want to send folks away or find them guilty. A judge on the other hand is probably going to be more biased to start with.

I know that I"ve sat in when folks with tickets chose to go the judge route more than once, and every time they lost, had they picked jury and I'd have been picked, I"d have done my best to get them off on very real possible unfair speeding tickets.
Judges in those cases were extremely biased that anything that LEO says HAS to be the truth when its far from that at times.

I've been called twice and released right off twice. They asked me a few questions. I always tell them I'm a great judge of character and can tell if someone is guilty or innocent simply by looking at them.

The first time I showed up a guy had on a Tshirt with the N word on it and he was white. They got rid of him first.

As an attorney is should have been dismissed from serving.

But hey, I guess the other choices were worse . . . .

I served, the defendant lied, we convicted her.

I learned that lying will get you jail time FAST.

BMT

I've been called Petite twice, and Grand once.

The first p-jury I didn't realize we were to be seated THAT DAY and showed up with my 6-week old son in arms.... (He's 26 now.....) I thought it was just an interview... The Judge was not happy....

The second time I was summoned, it was in Barrow, and I was outta there in 2 weeks airline tickets and all...- the judge excused me.

Never got to me on the Grand...

There are a lot of ways to get excused- but consider- should you?? True- I have a job that pays regular salary while on jury duty, so I can see the point of those who do not- especially for a trial that may be drawn out for weeks or months.

Years ago, my brother's girl friend was regularily called, and served on jury duty. About twice a year it seemed.

The lawyers really liked her - she had a face and figure to die for, and was dumb as a rock - whoever talked to her last had her vote.

Stoned most of the time, too.

ROTFLMAO... Oh, man, did I need THAT!

Oh, hahahhahahahahahahaahaha.

Called for Federal Grand Jury once. It would have lasted a year and a half; most of the Federal Courts are in the other end of the state. Every time they would snap their fingers I would have lost up to 3 days work, anyone care to guess how long the job I had just gotten would have lasted? Especially in an "at will" state?
Last time I got called for regular jury duty my doctor wrote a letter to the effect that the only way I would definately be able to stay awake would be if I was standing all through the trail. They let me off.

Really stupid stuff comes out of juries because the average Joe just can't bring him/her self to be the bad guy. Most of the time some cretin commits a horrible act against God and Man then gets 'mercy' which lets said cretin be eligible for parole in 10 to 15. To mutilate/main/rape or murder again. At least that seems the case here in westbuhgawd.

Just today LA police arested a thug who may be the most prolific serial killer/rapist in their history. This scumbag had been in prison 3 times for sex crimes and kept getting turned loose to do it all over again.

Disgusting.

O

During the pipeline and Prudhoe Bay construction days in Fairbanks, a lot of the crews were downsized during the dead of winter. The drill was to sign up for unemployment for beer money, and it was borderline comical to me to see all those Mercedes and Thunderbirds and Caddys parked outside the unemployment office. Those that signed up were soon being called for jury duty.

I wound up doing two stints, one for a month on the Grand Jury. I have to admit it was always interesting and at times downright enjoyable. High point was being jury foreman and staring down a glaring drug dealer/pimp that had just received his first conviction in over a dozen indictments. The boy did have a good lawyer, of course - same one for several years, in fact.

Bob, do you have this level of customer loyalty - ??

Been called for three different panels.

First panel - got called in for jury selection interviews twice. One was regarding a civil case involving pipeline ROW. When asked if I knew anything about pipelines I said yes, my father was a PL engineer and I had worked for the company between college years. I was dismissed. Second one was a DUI that the LEOs had done a bad job of presenting their evidence. I'm very pro-LEO, but the evidence was very shaky and we found the guy not guilty.

Second panel - Was on this one for 18 months and never did have to even show up at the courthouse.

Third panel - Got picked for one jury. After 3 days of trial and a half day of deliberation, the judge called us back in to the courtroom and dismissed us as the lawyers had reached a plea agreement. Later found out the guy had plead out to 20 to 30 years. He would have been sent up for life if the informal poll amongst the jurors had come to fruition. Domestic terrorism and kidnapping charge - even his mother had testified against him . . .

So why are you gritching (griping and bitching) about it? Won't your buddy the white house lawn jockey give you a bailout!!??

I served about four years ago. One guy was really agitated and said aloud he's do anything to get out of jury duty. It was a drug case when asked about impartiality he said he didn't think drug laws were legal. The judge bounced him back into the pool where he sat until Thursday, he didn't get out of anything he just had to sit around with all the potential replacements. At the time I didn't know they could do that to you.

Never been asked by anybody that had proper jurisdiction. Probably I'll be tossed if it should occur. Tall trees, short horses, that sort of stuff you know.....

...I've served before. Once as foreman on a murder case trail. But here in Fulton county Georgia they no longer accept me for since I refuse to give my Social Security number based on my constitutional right to privacy, I just enter "Confidential" on the line asking for the S.S.#. Since they've begun asking they haven't called me beyond the jury pool waiting room.

With whatever faults our jury system has, it's still the best there is with one possible exception: if you could hand pick your judge. That's never going to happen. If I have to go to trial, I'll take the jury please. At least our system allows you some say in unpicking potential jurors. If I'm truly not guilty (which I expect to be if ever charged) I want the option of having my attorney convince one of twelve to vote not guilty. From a prosecutor's perspective, usually, not always; but, usually if a defendant is truly guilty, they'll get the twelve to agree.

What's really funny is he had help from his wife writing that.

I know his wife. I doubt it.

I think an important part of being an American is serving on jury duty.

Although the "affidavit" of the Montana guy is hilarious.........





Casey

I got called not too long ago, went, was juror #3 until voir dire was over. I was first dismissed, there are multiple possibilities:
-T-shirt that said "I Support Gay Marriage, only if both Chicks are HOT!"
-When asked by the judge if we could all agree to abide by the presumption of innocence, I said I could not.
When questioned further, I said "we were all guilty of at least something. I mentioned I exceeded the speed limit on the way to court, was I guilty, heck yes, did I get caught, no!"

"That guy (pointed to the defendant), not only is he guilty, he got caught. He might not be guilty of what you are charging him with, but I am not in that seat. He is charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine."

"I have a very hard time believing that the Prosecutor would be willing to waste all our time and precious resources to put a man on trial that he was not prepared to convict. And certainly judge, you wouldn't let us make it this far in the legal proceedings without sufficient evidence to prove his guilt. The way I figure it, there are a lot of people that believe this guy is guilty, the cops that arrested him, the DA/PA that filed charges, the judge that heard preliminary evidence and allowed us to come to court. I didn't feel like telling all those people they were wrong when they had seen all the evidence and we as jurors would only be allowed to see what was permissible by rules of evidence."

-When asked by the prosecuting attorney if we as jurors watched/believed in those drama court tv shows and whether or not we believed that the job of the attorney was to trick the individual on stand.
I responded that that was exactly their job.
He asked how many other jurors agreed with me, one other raised their hand.
I was allowed to elaborate further and said their job was to trick witnesses into saying something they wouldn't normally say. Otherwise, you would simply say, "please tell your story," but instead you ask carefully crafted questions, in a particular order to lead us down a path we might not normally choose. How else do you explain studying law for so many years, wouldn't you be upset if some uneducated sap got up on the stand and answered questions in a way you weren't prepared for, that would surely make your tuition look like a waste of money.
After my rant, he again asked how many others agreed with me, 9 now were in my camp.

They didn't ask me many more questions, in fact they began a few questions, with, "Mr. S, we already know what you think, does anyone else...

It took way too long, but was a fun experiment in the judicial system.

Interesting, probably only to myself, but I've always had this feeling that folks ain't worth a flip if they purposely get out of jury duty, what if it was you on trial and you wanted a jury? A good non predjudiced one?

Just pisses me off.

In regards to self employment, seems that folks self employed don't bitch when they get to go hunting or on vacation etc.... but do for things like jury duty. And FWIW I was self employed for some 15 plus years. Never bothered me in the least. Its one of your duties in a free country.

Can I get out of it by interview? Yep probably can, but I won't TRY to. But I will answer the questions honestly. And Im' not showing up with a trash Tshirt just to shirk my duties.

Jeff

I got out of jury duty once. I was the first name pulled out of the hat. When the judge asked if anyone had any reason they couldn't serve on the jury, he called me out by name. I said "Well, Tim, I mean your honor. Your my cousin, the plaintiffs lawyer is my Dad and the defendant shot my dog, but I can be perfectly impartial. I was promptly dismissed. Seems they don't like honest people.